’Nova, Pavilion rough works in progress
RADNOR >> For $65 million and a year of forbearance, Villanova was able to nicely reimagine its Pavilion, making it brighter, better and more functional for basketball fans. As for the team that will call it home, Jay Wright knows that will require some patience, too.
After not playing on campus for a year as the building was revived, the Wildcats returned Tuesday to the newly named Finneran Pavilion understandably under some measure of construction. It’s kind of what happens whenever four players move onto the NBA, three in the first round of the draft and college basketball’s player of the year early in the second.
With plenty of options, but without a firm rotation at this point, the Wildcats would wear down Morgan State, 10077.
The result was about as expected. The difficulty of the game, though, was a bit of a surprise.
“It’s not going to be pretty sometimes,” Wright said afterward. “But it will get better.”
Of all the treats that come with winning two NCAA championships within three years, it’s the right to win a Division 1 game by 23 and be made to explain why it wasn’t even more lopsided. So it wasn’t just fresh banners and photographs being draped around the new place in the offseason, but expectations that were just as large. One of those expectations might have been that the Cats would win with ease. Yet when Chester native Stanley Davis Jr. spun into the lane and scored with
11:06 left in the first half, the Bears were within 2622, and for the moment, it was understandable for the capacity crowd to wonder if more than just old bleachers were tossed out with the construction debris.
Was a unique atmosphere lost, too?
“Before the game, we really didn’t know what it would be like,” Wright acknowledged. “But I think it’s better. It’s a different vibe in here. It’s definitely louder. And that was cool.”
The Cats were too talented to lose. They were aggressive at the offensive end, taking 37 threepointers, making 12. They won a 45-30 rebounding edge. And their depth and size eventually wore Morgan State down. But Nova did turn the ball over 14 times, 12 in the first half, with Morgan State’s press providing early trouble.
“We have to play games,” Wright said. “We need the experience of guys playing together, playing in game situations. It’s what young teams do, they turn it over. Our defense wasn’t bad in the first half. But give them credit. They were good defensively. But we will get better at that.”
Wright tinkered with multiple combinations, surprising some veteran observers by using sophomore Dylan Painter to start the game with Collin Gillespie, Eric Paschall, Phil Booth and Jermaine Samuels. At one first-half point, he had Booth on the court with freshmen Jahvon Quinerly, Brandon Slater, Cole Swider and Saddiq Bey.
With Morgan State successfully pressing and willing to be in a highscoring game, Wright knew his depth would be the difference.
“We actually weren’t ‘trying’ the lineups,” Wright said. “We were trying to keep fresh bodies out there. That was the plan: Fresh bodies, fresh bodies. Sometimes we got caught with four freshmen and they caught us a little bit. But we have to do that early in the season.”
That should help late in the season, when Villanova hasn’t been too bad in recent years.
“I’ll be very honest with you,” Wright said. “I don’t have a plan now. We just have to play. I have to see if guys distinguish themselves. We knew they were going to press. We knew our depth would be important. That might be different if we are in a half-court kind of game. In that, you can’t run guys in and out. You have to get in a rhythm.”
Though willing, Morgan State never truly threatened to ruin the Cats’ return to campus. Paschall was too capable inside, scoring 26 points and collecting seven rebounds in 27 minutes. Some of the freshmen sputtered, but that did not include Bey, who shot 5-for-8 and scored 16 points.
“I was just doing whatever the coaches on the team need me to do,” Bey said. “I tried to bring versatility. And whatever lineup we had out there, I wanted to bring aggressiveness. I am ready to give that maximum effort.”
That was enough to make the Cats 1-0 in their newer home. From its fresh pedestrian approach from Ithan Ave., to a friendly gathering area behind the stands, to a neat, new, circular scoreboard above the floor, the place works. The lighting was improved. The student section has been moved closer to the playing floor, and also to the visiting coach’s left ear. There were inviting, pro-sportsstyle concession areas.
If that’s what $65 million buys these days, at least Villanova came away with something that will convince people (translation: recruits) that they are in a classy facility. As for the team? “We are a young team,” Paschall said. “It’s going to be a journey. But we will get better every day. The young guys are great. They ask good questions, on and off the court.
“We have a lot of potential.”
Since Villanova won the last national championship without playing a game in the place, it would be a stretch to argue that the refurbished Pavilion will provide a necessary home-court edge.
As for the new-arena smell, it worked Tuesday, even if the team was still brushing away some construction dust.